safefood - MediaWise

MediaWise is a FREE media literacy resource, designed by primary school teachers and industry experts, to help children make sense of the digital world and develop life-long media literacy skills. Teaching kids critical thinking skills will help them navigate media, marketing, and advertising. With the MediaWise teaching pack, primary school children of all ages will:

• Be able to explain what the media is,
• Gain an understanding of advertising and targeting,
• Understand persuasive text, celebrity endorsements and stereotypes,
• Develop critical thinking skills to identify misleading content or misinformation,
• Make more informed choices based on their evaluations of media messages.

Why teach media literacy?

Media literacy describes the ability to identify different types of media and understand the messages they circulate. The one common denominator of all media is that it was created for a reason, be it with positive or negative intentions. Understanding that reason will help kids become smart consumers of products and information.

Research shows that children as young as three see thousands of ads for unhealthy foods each year, not to mention the hundreds of media messages they see, hear and read every day. Media literacy and critical thinking skills will help them navigate these messages to make more informed choices as they grow up. Click here to access the resources.